


Magic of One's Own

by Mintstream



Series: Penny Parker; Whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Female Peter Parker, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27016885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintstream/pseuds/Mintstream
Summary: King Anthony thought he'd spend just one calm night on the town. Well, for one it wasn't that calm, and for another, now he's searching for an unfindable kid that he probably won't ever see again.Probably.Day 15: Magical Healing
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Penny Parker; Whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940167
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89





	Magic of One's Own

"This is a stupid idea."

"Wouldn't be my kind of idea if I didn't do it," Tony snarked, pulling the raggedy cloak tighter around his shoulders.

The General stared at Tony in complete exasperation, his face pinched in annoyance, but his eyes shining with mirth. Rhodey always pretended like he hated Tony's ideas, but the king knew better. Still, Rhodey continued to try and convince him.

"Leaving the castle without a guard is idiotic, Tones. I don't know if I'm legally allowed to let you leave."

"I'm sorry, who makes the rules?" Tony asked sarcastically, then he pointed at himself dramatically, "I think it was me. I don't really remember what that guy was saying during my coronation--way too many words--but I do think I recall--"

"--Alright, alright!" Rhodey placated, and he knew he'd won. His friend tightened the fasten on his dull brown cloak, pulling up the hood and checking his leather tunic to make sure it was inconspicuous enough, "Go out into the city or whatever, get some air, I'll cover for you tonight, say we're going over how we're securing our border. Happy?"

"Never."

"Great. Amazing. You have six hours, grab me a scone or something," Rhodey scoffed. Tony waved with a mischievous smile as he left the castle stables. Despite Rhodey's reluctance and general annoyance at Tony sneaking out, it wasn't like it was _unusual._ He didn't do it extremely often, but it wasn't a rarity. It was something he liked to do every couple of months, to be one of the crowd, one of the hundreds of thousands of his kingdom.

It was refreshing, in its own way. Nothing was expected of him for a few blissful hours. Not the Avengers, not the borders, not the world. He just got to barter for a few goods and enjoy the sunset, maybe entertain some passing by kids. And Tony loved it. Especially with the kingdom's recent problems.

There were rumors of hotspots of magic. Dangerous magic. It was blue and red, saying to have caused plants to wither in some places, or spring to life more beautifully than ever before in others. Magic, much like Tony's outings, wasn't unusual, but it wasn't everywhere all the time either. It was rare, and it wasn't always loved. Tony had sent out guards, he'd sent out the Avengers, and he'd even gone out himself to examine places where the red and blue glow had reportedly been seen, but so far nothing. And the kingdom was getting scared.

Tony cleared all thoughts of the problem from his mind as he came into the town square. There were hundreds of people bustling around, all competing to get where they needed to be first. The colors of their robes and dresses were vibrant, especially in the red of the setting sun, which cast an almost magical glow over the market. He smiled as he saw a little girl stumble past with her mother, her yellow dress trailing behind her. With a shake of his head, the king dove into the throng, becoming part of the crowd.

He liked doing this every so often--though Rhodey always reacted like it was the first time he'd left the castle walls--and he always found it refreshing. Being in the kingdom when no one recognized him was freeing, and it also allowed him to understand at least a little bit what it was like with his citizens, which was hard to do from his throne.

The king's first few hours in the city were amazing, as they always were. He watched performers, paid for some trinkets and street food, and even bought a beautiful bouquet of lilies for his wife that literally glowed a bright blue when you sang to them. Overall, it was pleasant, with the sun being replaced by a waning moon and blue lights flickering on with trapped lightflies in the bright yellow absence.

This was the time that Tony liked the kingdom the most. Despite the darkness of the night, bathed by the blue glow, it was still lively. Taverns still burst with music and laughter, couples walked along the waterfront, waving at passing by boats or magical sprites that danced through the trees. He smiled at the sight as a few flickered above him, dancing away quickly as he made a turn down an alleyway.

He should probably be heading back to the castle now. It was already a far enough walk away, and he was sure that Happy was beginning to freak out despite Rhodey covering for his ass. He'd already spent all his money anyway, and he didn't want the flowers he'd gotten for Pepper to wilt so--

A glint.

Tony froze as it caught his eye, trailing the glint to the person holding it, and two others behind them. Oh great. A mugging. And he'd spent all of his money. Glancing them over, he collected his cool confidence and turned on his heel to leave, only to find the other end of the alley blocked by two more men. Great. Amazing. This was just _great._

So this wasn't great. He wondered if they'd recognized him or if they just thought that he'd be an easy target for some quick change. His questions were answered as the group stalked forward.

"Hello, your highness," greeted one of the men, and Tony was just able to make out his face from the blue lamp a street behind them. The knife he was holding glinted under the blue lamp, but as he got a good look at it he realized that it wasn't just glinting, it was glowing. So it was enchanted. Great. "What're you doing out of your golden palace?"

"Oh, y'know, just sightseeing, doing some touristy shit," he replied sarcastically, pulling himself up as tall as he could be and tensing when more men piled into the alleyway. There were ten of them in total, most with weapons that were glowing brightly, clearly all enchanted, and by the different colors the knives and staffs glowed, they were all embedded with different spells. Ten people, with weapons, that were enchanted. So, his chances weren't great.

Tony grasped his dagger under his cloak, slightly comforted by the hum it let out under his fingers. It was enchanted with the same power as the arc reactor, but it wouldn't be enough to fight off all these people. He was an idiot. He should've let Rhodey come with him or something. Happy maybe as well. The chances of people messing with him, or even just going down this stupid alleyway in the first place were so much lower with one of them around.

"Alright, cut the shit," the same man said again, his voice harsh and no-nonsense. He was clearly the leader, which was reinforced when the other men converged on Tony when the man made a signal with his hand. Tony didn't know what it meant, probably some secret code just for this group or something, "Put your weapons down and then put your hands in the air."

"See, I'd prefer if we--"

He was cut off by a sharp hit to the chest, almost knocking him over, and he had to keel over to catch his breath. The spell he'd been hit with had been a bright white, clearly just a typical blast spell, but strong and effective enough to make him throw his dagger to the ground, it landing with a clatter and immediately being snatched up by someone.

"Empty out your pockets too," the man in charge ordered, but Tony just shrugged, showing his hands.

"I don't have anything."

"Bullshit! You're the king!"

"Who went out for a day on the town and bought a bunch of flowers for his wife. Which, please don't destroy those. It would hurt worse than a stab through the heart."

"Oh, yeah?"

Tony really should learn to keep his _fucking_ mouth shut.

"If you don't have money on you, I'm sure someone in the castle who does will gladly give us theirs in exchange for you." God Pepper was going to be so pissed, "Hands on your head and you won't get hurt."

Tony obliged with a heavy glare, and one of the guy's goons approached him, a faintly glowing chain in their hands. Just as they got near enough to grab his hand, he lashed out with a punch to the face. The man stumbled back immediately, falling down as Tony felt his nose break. He held out his other hand and his dagger flew to his hand, the magic imbued in it allowing for it to fling out of the hands of the man who had taken it earlier.

Immediately after the king attacked the thief, the others in the group ran at him, their weapons held aloft threateningly. Tony threw punch after punch, holding back his attackers as best he could. He was a good fighter, trained from a young age how to defend himself, but he wasn't powered by some stupid magic flower like Steve was, so he couldn't take on ten guys by himself and expect to come away victorious.

He took punch after punch, feeling his lip split and his face bruise as he was beat around. Even with the enchanted knife he held, he was no match for the amount of people, so after a few minutes, he ended up on the ground, taking painful kicks to his face and chest. Every blow was like a reminder of his stupidity, of how stupid he was to think he could go out in the city alone, that he could carry out a war with no repercussions, that maybe he could break the curse that haunted him every single night--

A loud crash broke him from his thoughts, and he opened his eyes--he hadn't even realized he'd closed them--to see everyone looking at the end of the alleyway. He couldn't see what was happening from where he was slumped down on the ground, but the flash of white caught his attention. A white rope wrapped around the person closest to him's arm, pulling the man away from Tony and towards whatever was at the end of the alleyway. He'd never seen a rope quite like the one that kept grabbing onto the men near him, completely white and shining brightly. It was clearly some sort of spell.

As the men around him cleared, some being pulled away and others rushing off to fight the newcomer, he was able to make out the figure that had saved them. They were small, ridiculously small, throwing punches and flipping around the place crazily. They wore a hood and a mask that covered the lower half of their face, and they were dressed in a short red cloak that barely made it past their chest in the front, but draped out into a fitted cloak in the back.

Tony leaned heavily against the wall as he forced himself up, the sounds of the fight growing more desperate and hurried as he did. His "savior" was clearly getting overwhelmed, their quick moves and multitude of spells failing against the still six men standing. Taking in a gulping breath, the king summoned his dagger again, throwing it at the nearest man and then calling it back when it sliced through the man's skin. The stranger knocked the man out with a swift spell, and the two of them worked together quickly to take down everyone else.

With their combined efforts, the tide of the fight was turned quickly. Though he felt it was mostly the stranger pulling his weight, since he was old, and already hurt, and non-magical save for the arc reactor tucked into his chest. Which he was reminded of when, while fighting with a man, a sword sliced through his leg.

He immediately stumbled, taking a punch to the face as he lost his footing. He let out a pained grunt as he dropped, and then more men were on him. Hitting and pulling and clearly ready too take him hostage. But then they were gone. Almost all at once they were blown away, a burst of red magic blasting at them. The men howled with pain as the magic touched them, but it didn't come near Tony. Just passed harmlessly over him.

The king looked up to see the stranger rushing to him, their red cloak flying out behind them as the knelt down in front of where he was leaning heavily against the wall clutching his leg.

"Hey," he panted, "Thanks for the assist."

The stranger nodded hastily, and then there fingers began glowing blue. Red magic, and now blue magic. Well, now he knew where the magic was coming from at least.

Mumbling something he couldn't make out, the stranger placed their hands over the wound on his leg. He watched as it began stitching itself up in front of him, white threads glowing and similar to the magical rope from earlier repairing his skin. He hissed in pain as it did, but at least the bleeding was stopping. And in barely a few minutes, there was nothing but a thin pink scar.

"Jeez, thanks. You've got some pretty impressive magic there," he complimented, beginning to stand, but they grabbed arms as he stumbled, and their mask fell, exposing their face.

A kid. She was a kid. With curly hair and wide eyes and a dusting of freckles. 

Tony gaped at her in shock. She looked so young, fifteen at the oldest, with a bruise blossoming around her eye. What was most shocking about her age was how well she had fought, how deftly she had used magic--like it was nothing. Teenagers could barely pull off a light spell, much less blasts and magical ropes he'd never seen before.

Noticing her mask had fallen, she swore, placing it back over her face, her eyes darting from side to side clearly looking for an escape. He held out a placating hand. He didn't want her to leave. She was a kid. A crazily powerful kid who was shifting between cursing and blessing the land and was clearly not doing well, if her thin frame and sunken in cheeks were anything to go by.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. You're fine," he said, testing out his leg dramatically, "Thanks for fixing my leg. My wife will probably want to thank you too." She stayed silent looking at him, and he hesitated before gesturing at her bruised eye, "Are you okay?"

"Nothing that won't heal," she replied.

"I don't know, that's a pretty nasty bruise. It heals a bit differently than a stab wound. Maybe you should come by the castle."

"What? Why?" she said, her voice hostile.

"Not to arrest you, kid. I mean to more get some fresh food, a place to sleep, maybe a couple of gold bars as thanks at the very least for saving me."

"I don't need money."

Tony looked her up and down a little, taking in her thin and ragged appearance.

"Well, you could still stay for the night. It's cold."

She took a step back, much to his confusion, "It was nice to meet you, King Anthony."

Without another word, she jumped onto the wall behind him, and Tony watched in amazement as she grabbed onto the wall and crawled up it, leaping up onto the house and disappearing over the roof.

"Hey, wait!" he called, but she was already gone. He'd been saved by a child, who could control her powers, and could climb up walls. Hoping she was still in earshot, he yelled, "The castle will welcome you if you need help!"

* * *

Tony didn't stop looking for that kid, and he didn't know what it was, but in the few minutes he'd known her, he'd gotten attached. He'd sent out guards looking for her, kept a closer eye on the reports of strange magic, and alerted the castle staff to help anyone matching her description and alert him of it, but it was still a month before he found her again.

It was raining, hard. Thunder pouring from the clouds in waves and crashing against his window. His candle flickered at a strong gust of wind, and he pulled the cloak--this time red and gold and much more fit for a kind--tighter around his shoulders at the chill as he continued to read by the candle light.

It was a report about the magic, this time people had spotted the girl, and he was sure it was her. Brown hair, small, young, and a dirty cloak with multiple patches. It had to be her, and he had to find her. But by the time he'd sent out guards and they'd gotten there a few towns over, she'd be gone, he was sure.

There was a knock at his door, and Tony jumped at the sudden intrusion, clearing his throat and telling whoever it was to enter. An older maid he didn't know the name of--Mary, he thought--came through the door, looking determined.

"Your Majesty," she greeted, and he nodded.

"Good evening, well, night I guess. What can I do for?" he asked, standing up from his chair and grabbing his crown from where it had sat on the table beside his papers.

"Well, sire, a girl showed up at the doors tonight. She's in the kitchen right now, but she matches your description and I just thought--"

"Take me to her."

Mary led him down the hallways to the kitchen, and when he stepped inside the always warm room, he stopped. It was her. Definitely that little punk kid who had saved his ass. She was thinner somehow, shivering violently under a thick wool blanket as a cook tried to offer her a steaming hot stew.

She looked up as he entered the room, her teeth chattering as she said, "H-hi, Your Majesty."

"Call me Tony, kid," he offered, stepping closer, "You gonna take up my offer."

"Just for the night."

"Stay as long as you want, kid."

**Author's Note:**

> lol this one's not my favorite, but there's so much worldbuilding not a lot happened, so my bad.


End file.
